Sad Yates extends Happy Hour

PUBS operator Yates is slashing beer prices after seeing sales tumble since the summer. Unveiling a like-for-like sales decline of 3.4% in the past five weeks alone, executive chairman Mike Hennessy said he would be cutting mid-week drinks prices to the Happy Hour tariff all day long.

Hennessy hopes the promise of Carling Black Label at £1.40 a pint will attract more customers in during the quiet Sunday-to-Thursday period. 'Nobody knows why this slowdown has suddenly happened - it is probably a combination of many things.' he said.

Pre-tax profits in the six months to 29 September were £5.1m against a loss for the same period a year earlier of £4m. The 2001 figure was hit by £8.7m of exceptional costs, mostly from Hennessy's cull of poor-performing pubs. Turnover was £77m against £80m a year earlier. The interim dividend is pegged at last year's 1.65p. Shares fell 5 1/2p to 96p today.